A lady in Canada has taken Santa’s pipe away.

http://cbldf.org/2012/12/santas-pipe-missing-from-new-edition-of-classic-poem/

She says that Santa is a role model for children, and so he shouldn’t be smoking. Seriously: the guy is immortal and he slides down chimneys. I have never heard one child say, “I want to be Santa when I grow up.”

On the other hand, children are much more likely to smoke when someone in their family smokes. Maybe Santa can bring those children an uncensored copy of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and parents who don’t smoke.

Perhaps I simply have more respect for the intelligence of children. In my holiday programs, Santa will keep his pipe.